SAHA will be housing 'Jobs Plus' program

$2.5 million federal infusion will help San Antonians skill-wise and socially.

Venus Juarez arrived at Alazan-Apache Courts two years ago with little more to her name than a bad criminal record.

After a stint in jail for drug possession and months of sleeping on other people's floors with her two young daughters, she came to view her placement at the public housing complex on the near West Side as a second chance.

She joined a self-sufficiency program, learned some job skills and went back to school. Now on track to graduate in December from San Antonio College and working at a paid internship in her field, Juarez is an example of the kind of resident the San Antonio Housing Authority is hoping to reach with a new infusion of $2.5 million for jobs training.

The funding will launch a “Jobs Plus” program aimed at educating and sending more than 1,000 residents to work or placing them into new positions with higher wages.

Housing officials will use the money to open an office in April and hire five staff members to counsel residents one-on-one in personal finance and attaining job skills. The office will operate on site at the complex and will also serve residents from Mirasol Homes.

“Everything will be aimed at helping a person not only get a job, but keep a job,” said SAHA president and CEO Lourdes Castro Ramirez.

Funding for the project will last five years and comes from the federal Social Innovation Fund, a new public-private partnership championed by President Barack Obama. The grant was awarded by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. San Antonio is the first city outside of New York to receive the Jobs-Plus money.

Steve Saldaña, president of Catholic Charities, said the program fits with the agency's core mission.

“Families can't be strong and supportive unless they have strong and supportive jobs,” he said.

Juarez, 32, who benefited from a similar SAHA program called “Family Self Sufficiency” aimed at weaning residents off of government support, said a part of the idea behind Jobs Plus is to build social ties. Residents who go through the program will, in turn, be better positioned to help their neighbors and inspire them.